A Boy and His Owl
by Sand-wolf579
Summary: When Arthur Weasley got his third son the owl, they both knew it was just so the teenager could have somebody with him at school who would listen and understand him.
1. Chapter 1

**Look, another fanfiction about Percy...and my obsession with him only started this last time I read the whole series over again...for like the tenth time. Anyways, hope you enjoy.**

**Oh, and I don't own Harry Potter, or any of the characters from the series, really I don't.**

Summer was probably Percy's least favorite season, always had been, always will be. It was much too hot for Percy's taste, and his siblings enjoyed it way too much, especially Fred and George. With the way they acted, you would think they didn't know how to live without blowing something up. Those boys always got on Percy's nerves, so he took to just spending the summer in his bedroom, where Fred and George would never even think of going.

So, fifteen year old Percy sat at the small desk in his bedroom, going over his homework, for the fifth time. He already finished all his homework, so now he had taken to checking his homework over to make sure that he did it right and to his liking. Percy was concentrating so much on the essay he was currently looking over that he didn't even hear the knock on the door. He only looked up when whoever knocked just went ahead and opened the door.

"Hey Percy." Arthur Weasley says. Percy finally looked up from his work

"Hello father." Percy says as he sets aside the parchment he was looking over. He's already checked it over, multiple times, he could stand not making sure it's perfect to talk to his father. Arthur still stands in the doorway and Percy smiles a little. Sure, he liked his privacy, but that didn't mean anybody was banned from entering his room.

"You can come in, you know." Percy says.

"I thought you didn't like anybody else in your room." Arthur says as he comes into Percy's room.

"That's what I told Fred and George when they used to try to come in here to bug me." Percy says, "Honestly I wouldn't mind a little company every once in a while."

"If you want company, why not go and be around your siblings?" Arthur asks. Honestly, he was a little worried. Percy was the most secluded of all his children, and Arthur didn't like how distant Percy was getting with his brothers. Sure, he still got along with Ginny, but Ginny was starting to spend more time with Fred and George, and in a few years they'll probably become distant too.

"They didn't ask me to," Percy says casually, "Besides, they're playing Quidditch." Percy was probably the only one in the family who wasn't obsessed with Quidditch. Yeah, he enjoyed watching the game sometimes, but he would never play it. His siblings all thought it was because he was just a boring git who thought the game was pointless, but Arthur knew it was because Percy and flying really didn't go well together. The few times that Percy did fly resulted in him getting a very upset stomach.

"Alright, so what are you doing up here on your own?" Arthur asks.

"Just going over my homework." Percy says.

"Didn't you finish it the day you got home from school?" Arthur asks jokingly. Even stick-in-the-mud Percy couldn't not smile at that comment.

"Something like that," Percy says, "I'm just making sure it's right, changing it a bit here and there."

"Doesn't that get a little boring?" Arthur asks, "I know you love school, but even you must get bored from that."

"A little," Percy admits, "But I'll be going back to school soon, so it's no big deal."

"Ah, speaking of school, you're mother told me that you have just been made Prefect." Arthur says, this was what he'd come up to talk to Percy about. Percy glances over to the Prefect badge sitting on his desk.

"It's not that big a deal." Percy says, but his tone of voice said otherwise, he was proud, even though there was only one other Gryffindor boy that could've been a Prefect.

"We both know that's not true." Arthur says. He comes over to Percy and puts his arm around his shoulder, "Just promise me, Percy, that you don't go getting a big-head about this. You're a Prefect so you can help the teachers and other students, not so you can go around thinking you're better than everyone else."

"I know, dad," Percy says, sounding a bit irritated. "regardless of what Fred and George say, I don't flaunt around how amazing I am, it's not my fault everybody else see's it that way.

"Well, try to show them otherwise." Arthur says. "Oh, and I have something for you. Come with me." Arthur then leads Percy from his solitary bedroom to downstairs.

"Alright, what are we doing?" Percy asks, somewhat cautiously.

"Well, Percy, you've worked hard to become a Prefect," Arthur says, "And that sort of thing needs to be rewarded." The two of them walk into the kitchen and Percy sees Errol sleeping, like he seemed to do a lot, but there was another owl there.

"An owl?" Percy says, looking at the handsome screech owl.

"Yes, an owl. Handsome creature, isn't he?" Arthur says, looking at the bird, "When Bill became a Prefect, we let him pierce his ears...which is a decision that your mother still regrets."

"I bet she does," Percy says, the shadow of a smirk on his face.

"Yes, well, we both agreed that you would probably prefer something else, and we decided on an owl." Arthur says.

"But, why?" Percy asks, "And aren't owls sort of expensive?"

"Don't you go worrying about money, Percy, that's my job." Arthur says somewhat sternly, but he didn't stay serious for long, "I thought you might like an owl of your own because the four years that you've been at Hogwarts, you have used the school owls to write home at least three times a week. Now I'm not saying that's a bad thing," Arthur says hastily when Percy's ears go red and he opens his mouth to say something, "But I just thought you'd like to have your own owl rather than constantly use the school ones."

Percy looked at the owl for a minute before asking "What's his name?"

"He's your bird, it just makes sense that you be the one to name him." Arthur chuckles.

Percy looks at his owl for another minute before saying "I'll have to think about that for a bit." Percy holds out his arm and the screech owl immediately hops on the teenagers arm. "I'm going to go take him upstairs." Percy says. Percy heads back upstairs, then stops and says one more thing to his father.

"Don't think I don't know why you really got me an owl." Percy says before returning to his bedroom. Arthur Weasley can't help but sigh at that. Of course Percy realized why they'd really gotten him an owl, he was a smart boy. Getting him an owl so he could write him easier was just part of the reason. Percy mailed home so often because, besides his parents and maybe his older brothers, he really didn't have many other people that he felt he could talk to. Arthur got Percy an owl because it would be good for the teenager to have somebody else there for him, even if that someone was a pet owl.

By the next morning, all of Percy's younger siblings knew about his owl. Fred and George were annoyed, Ron was slightly jealous, but Ginny was ecstatic and wanted to meet the owl. So at breakfast Percy brought his owl downstairs with him to let Ginny hold him, like she really wanted to.

"What's his name?" Ginny asks as she gently strokes the bird.

"Well, I thought about it for a while last night, but decided on the name Hermes." Percy says, "You know, like the greek messenger of the gods." Ginny thought that the name suited the screech owl well, but Fred and George thought completely differently. Percy was seriously naming his owl after the messenger for the gods? The only message this told the thirteen year old twins was that Percy was thinking of himself as a god, and his owl as his messenger, nothing else.

"A god, Perce?" Fred says, "You've known you're a Prefect for maybe a month, and already you think you're god worthy?"

Percy looks at Fred curiously, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, Fred, you should feel honored," George remarks, "The mighty Percival has graced you by speaking directly to you."

"What are you two going on about?" Percy asks, his ears starting to turn red. He really didn't like where this was going.

"So, tell us Perce, if Hermes is the messenger of the gods, then what god does that make you?" Fred asks.

"God of the gits, maybe." George suggests.

"Or god of the prats." Fred says.

Fred and George continued on like this for a minute, with each suggestion crueler and meaner than the last. Percy refused to hear this, he didn't need to listen to this. Percy stormed back upstairs to his room, slamming the door behind him. Even after he left, Fred and George continued on with their insults until Hermes flew over to them and bit both of them, hard.

Fred and George both pulled back their hands with a yelp. What did that stupid owl do that for? They didn't ever do anything to it. And now their hands were bleeding. What, was the bird trying to bite their fingers off? The boys couldn't even get back at the owl, because it had immediately flown out the window.

Percy sat on his bed, wondering why he was getting so frustrated with Fred and George right now. It's not like he hasn't heard this sort of thing from them before, but this was getting ridiculous. He couldn't even name his owl without them making a big joke out of him. Did he really come off as that conceited and arrogant?

tap tap tap. Percy looks toward his window and sees Hermes just outside, wanting to come inside. Percy sighs and goes over to open the window for him. Hermes quickly flies in and looks up at Percy. The teenager shakes his head and strokes his feathers. Hermes really was a handsome looking bird, and seemed to actually enjoy Percy's company, which was a trait that Percy honestly didn't see very often.

A few minutes later there was a knock on the door. Without waiting for an answer, Arthur opens the door and steps into Percy's room. He was a little curious as to why the boy wasn't down at breakfast...and also why Fred and George were complaining about 'the stupid git's bird.'"

"Hey Percy,"Arthur says, "You doing alright up here?"

"Yeah, we're fine." Percy says, speaking of both Hermes and himself.

"Tell me, what did Fred and George do this time?" Arthur asks, his arms across his chest.

"Same thing they always do," Percy shrugs, "I just wasn't in the mood to listen to it today."

"That's understandable." Arthur says. He looks at the owl that Percy is still stroking, "Do you have any idea why Fred and George told me that your owl bit them for no reason?"

Percy's eyes widen and he looks at Hermes, "You bit them?" he asks the bird. Obviously the owl doesn't answer, but Percy could tell that his owl had indeed bit his brothers. Percy couldn't help but smile, Hermes was a pretty smart bird.

"I don't think it was for no reason." Percy says.

"Neither do I," Arthur agrees. They both realized that Hermes had just been defending the teenager. Looks like getting Percy the owl was a good idea after all. Well, Percy was okay, so Arthur really didn't need to stay in here much longer.

"Well, I'm going back downstairs, to see if your mother needs any help with something," Arthur says somewhat awkwardly. Talking to Percy was starting to be a lot harder than it really should be. Before he can leave the room though, Percy says something that Arthur rarely hears him say.

"Hey, dad, thank you for getting me Hermes." Percy says. Arthur smiles, Percy only ever called him father. The few times that Percy did call him dad, he really meant it. Strange how hearing that one word made Arthur so pleased.

"No problem," Arthur says, "Just try to teach him to not hurt people."

Percy chuckles a bit, "I'll try" he says. Arthur leaves the room and closes the door behind him. Percy had only had the owl for not even a day, and already Arthur could tell that they would be close to each other. Percy would speak to his owl like it was just another person, and Hermes would be there for Percy when nobody else wanted to be. Yes, buying Hermes really was the best thing that Arthur could have done for Percy then, and it was appreciated.

**Alright, that seemed a bit awkward. I really wasn't sure what I was doing with this. Please forgive any OOCness that may be there, I'm just a fanfiction writer, not a professional. And believe it or not, there is more to come, this is not a one-shot.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, look, I'm back, like I said I would be. This one though takes place near the end of the second book, you know, when Ginny got taken down to the chamber...yeah, there.**

**So, yeah, I don't own Harry Potter, I'm not nearly a good enough writer to be J.K. Rowling.**

In most cases Percy enjoyed writing back home, to still be in contact with his parents, to let them know what's going on in his life. Even if his brothers had a tendency to make fun of him for it, just like everything else he ever did. Percy never listened to them though, there's no law that says sixteen-year-olds can't miss home sometimes. However, Percy would give everything he had if he just didn't have to write this letter...this stupid letter.

Percy ran his fingers through his hair, it wasn't fair, why was he the one that had to write home to tell their parents what had happened to Ginny? Couldn't one of the teachers do this? Or were they only willing to break the bad news to parents if their kids were in detention? This shouldn't be Percy's job. It just wasn't fair, at all.

It took another thirty minutes, but Percy was able to finish the very short letter, although he wasn't sure how legible it was. His mind was so jumbled up that the sentences probably made no sense, and that was if you could read them. Percy usually had good hand-writing, but no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't get his hand to stop shaking long enough to write one word.

Once Percy had finally finished the letter he lifted his hand and stroked Hermes, who had been sleeping in his usual place. Hermes wasn't like most owls who slept in the Owlery, he stayed in Percy's and Oliver's room. At first Oliver was against it, but Percy was able to convince his fellow Gryffindor that if he could bare through all the dirty Quidditch robes that Oliver had a habit of leaving in the middle of the floor, then Oliver could stand having an owl in the room.

"Hey, buddy, I need you take this letter for me, alright?" Percy says, his voice trembling slightly. Hermes doesn't immediately take the letter like he usually did, he just stared at Percy. The two of them had a kind of staring contest for a minute before Hermes took the letter in his beak and flew out the already open window. Once his owl had left Percy sighed and flopped down on his bed, but not before taking off his glasses and setting them on the small table beside the bed.

This whole year had been a total nightmare, okay, maybe not the whole year, it actually started out pretty good. Percy had actually really been looking forward to this year, for a start, it was Ginny's first year, and Percy had been excited for her. Second of all, this year, Percy actually had a girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater, the only student who didn't seem to think he was the biggest git of all time.

But, of course, because things seemed to be going okay for a bit, they had to go wrong, like they always seemed to do. With students being attacked left and right, things had become a lot harder and more stressful than they should be. It just got worse when Penelope got petrified, Percy had never felt so useless before, but he shouldn't have let that distract him from his responsibilities, and not just his prefect ones either. Ginny was his younger sister, he was supposed to help and protect her. But no, he just had to be caught up in just himself, some big brother he was.

_tap tap tap_

Percy snapped his eyes open, he hadn't even really realized he had closed them, and turned his head to find Hermes sitting back on the desk, staring at him.

"Hermes, what are you doing here?" Percy asks, sitting up on his bed and facing the bird, "I told you to go send the letter." Percy then noticed that said letter wasn't in sight, "What did you do with the letter?" Percy asks.

Hermes replied by pecking Percy's hand (He had a habit of doing that when he thought that someone was wrong or getting off track.)

"Ow, what was that for?" Percy asks, pulling his hand away. "Fine, don't deliver the letter, just go away, I want to be alone right now." Hermes eyes softened a bit, the owl had known Percy for more than a year now, he knew the boy well, so Hermes knew that usually when Percy said he wanted to be alone, he most always meant 'don't leave, I don't want to be alone'. So instead of leaving, Hermes hopped over to Percy's bed and put his head against Percy's hand.

"Fine, have it your way." Percy says stiffly as he strokes his bird and lies down again. Even though he made it sound like he really didn't want Hermes around, it was quite the opposite, he was really glad that Hermes was stubborn enough to stay with him, even when he said he didn't want company.

"Did you at least make sure that the letter would get to my parents?" Percy asks his owl. This wasn't actually the first time that Hermes refused to deliver a letter himself, but he always made sure the letter got where it needed to go. Hermes screeched in response and Percy knew he had made sure the job would get done.

"I'm such an idiot." Percy mutters to himself as he lies back down again. "Ginny's been having a hard time all year, if I had just thought of talking to her about it then maybe-she might not be…" Percy's voice trails off. The upset teenager shut his eyes tightly, to try to keep from letting tears fall, but they did anyways.

"I don't know what to do, Hermes," Percy admits, his voice cracking a bit, much to his dismay, "I mean, I'm supposed to be the older brother, I'm supposed to keep my siblings out of trouble. Yet Fred and George don't listen to a word I say and get in detention every other day. Then there's what happened last year to Ron and his friends, all of them could have died. Now Ginny…" Percy trails off again and sighs, "I guess I'm just not good at being an older broth-ow!" Percy yelps, for Hermes and pecked at him again.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Percy asks, glaring at the bird to see that the owl was glaring right back at him.

"Don't look at me like that, it's true." Percy says, turning his head away from the owl's gaze, "I'm always putting myself above my siblings, meeting my own personal wants before thinking of them. When I do remember them, I try to help them, but whatever I do is just never good enough."

Hermes moved so he was looking into Percy's eyes again. For some reason, the look in Hermes' eyes reminded Percy of something that his father had told him when the two of them had had a conversation very similar to this one.

_The most important thing is that you're trying, that alone says more than you think. Yes, you can improve, but so can every other person on the planet. Just keep trying, and it'll be fine._

Why did Percy remember that? There was no explanation, but oddly Hermes now looked satisfied, as if he knew what Percy had remembered, and was glad he had gotten the message. Hermes then looked from Percy to his pillow and Percy suddenly felt very tired.

"What, you want me to sleep?" Percy asks. Hermes nods his head a bit and Percy rolls his eyes, "It's the middle of the afternoon, it's too early to sleep." However, Hermes was looking at him in such a way that he couldn't just not do as he said. Percy was exhausted, even Hermes could see that Percy hadn't had a good night sleep since the chamber of secret's had opened again, what with all the added responsibilities given to the prefects, and the worrying, and of course he had to keep up with his school work.

"Fine, I'll get some sleep," Percy gave in with little resistance. Hermes nodded again and flew over to the desk again, for the bird was also planning on taking a nap. Percy shook his head at his owl's strangeness, bit a;sp settled into a position to fall asleep comfortably. Percy's last thought before he fell asleep was the hope that, somehow, things would be right again when he woke up.

**Yeah, I'm not sure how good that was, I just know it took a while to write. The ending may be weird, but honestly, I find that when I'm upset, I'm suddenly tired and just want to sleep, get away from this world for a few hours. I hope that Percy's still in character...even though I'm having him basically talking to himself. Thanks for reading, and please review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again, sorry for the long wait, I really don't have any good excuse for this, I was just writing other fanfiction. Anyways, this little story takes place when Percy and his family are sort of, I don't know how to describe it, not at the best of terms with each other? Let's just go with that, because I have no idea how else to say it.**

When Percy finally got back to his flat late one friday night he felt so exhausted that he wanted nothing more than to sleep through the weekend, but he couldn't. He was supposed to go to work early the next morning, meaning that he would only get a few hours worth of sleep. Unfortunately, Percy doubted he would be able to get any sleep, he had way too much on his mind, and a very tough decision to make.

Percy sat down on his couch, took off his glasses and massaged around his eyes. He had way too much on his mind right now. First off there was his job, as much as Percy hated to admit it, it was a bit too hard and exhausting for one young man to handle. His job was basically to do whatever the minister of magic wanted him to, and that was a lot.

There was also the stupid fact that he and his family really weren't on good terms at the moment...at all. Percy tried not to let this get to him, after all, they were being the foolish ones, however Percy couldn't help but but be upset that he had practically disowned them, and they had probably done the same thing. Those two things constantly on his mind was hard enough to manage, but now _this_ get's thrown in?

Earlier that day a man who worked at the ministry had come up to him. Percy knew that he should know this man's name, but it escaped him, and he couldn't remember for the life of him. The man's name though wasn't important, what was important was what he wanted. He wanted to buy something off of Percy, but the young man wasn't sure if he wanted to sell this something or not.

The first few weeks after leaving his family had been really hard on Percy. He had used some of his own money to get the flat he was living in now, but he had no way of knowing just how hard it would be to live by yourself without any support. The first thing he had to do was adjust to living by himself, standing on his own two feet and supporting himself, which was harder than he had originally thought. Add in the fact that he had no support in what he was doing, and that just made things all the more harder.

So what Percy had decided to do was to sell most of the personal belongings he had brought with him. This accomplished two things, a little extra money that would be sure to come in handy, and Percy hoped that by selling the things that tied him to the rest of the Weasley's, maybe he'd be able to move on with his life. Percy wasn't stupid enough to think that things between he and his family would get better, so why bother hoping?

However, there was one thing that Percy had yet to bring himself to sell, and it was exactly what the man was interested in buying from him.

_Hermes._

Percy's pet owl, the one that his father had given him years ago. Percy was completely torn, he wasn't sure what to do. Of all of Percy's belongings, Hermes was the one that reminded him of his family most, especially his father. Percy couldn't look at the owl without remembering how things had been between he and his father years ago. His father had trusted his judgement and let him make his own decisions. He had always encouraged Percy to work to achieve his dreams, even if others didn't like it.

Now though, Percy knew better. Apparently that only applied if Percy's dreams coincided with his parents'.

So, it was all a lie.

Percy was reminded of that lie whenever he saw his owl, so what reason was there to keep him? He was just an owl, he could be easily replaced. At least, that's what Percy told himself, but he really didn't believe it. Hermes wasn't just his owl, he was his friend, his now only friend. The only one who actually cared about him enough to stay.

Hermes had always been there for Percy, through all the hard times that came with being a teenager. Hermes had stayed with Percy, even though these past few weeks Percy had barely been around, leaving Hermes on his on. Even when Percy was at the flat, he paid barely any attention to the owl. Yet, Percy stayed with him, as faithful as he ever was.

And Percy just couldn't forget that it was his father who had given him Hermes in the first place. He had done this for a simple reason, because he was worried about him. His father had been concerned that his son didn't have many friends, so he got him the owl. Percy just couldn't forget this, even if the thought did give him a bit of a headache. How could something so simple as his father was worried about him be so complicated now?

Suddenly Percy came upon a realization, all of Percy's thoughts about Hermes seemed to have something to do with his family, but why? It just gave him a headache, and made him slightly homesick, though he wasn't about to admit it. No, Hermes wasn't just a reminder of his father and the rest of his family, Hermes was more than that. Hermes was his friend. His best friend.

And you just don't sell your best friend.

Percy got up from the couch and headed for his room where Hermes was currently probably sleeping, even though it was the dead of night. Hermes would rather hunt in the day, when Percy was busy, and sleep at night. Because Hermes prefered for Percy to wake him up, should he need to, than to wait all night for the owl to come back from hunting. Percy sat on his bed and stroked Hermes' feathers, waking up the owl. Hermes was excited to see Percy around and actually paying attention to him.

"Hey bud, sorry about not being around much." Percy says as he holds out his arm for the owl to get on. "I've been a little busy lately. I'll try to be around more. How does that sound?"

Hermes screeched in response and pecked lightly at Percy's arm.

"Glad to hear it." Percy chuckled. "Now come on, let's try to get at least a few hours of sleep while we can." Hermes screeched again and hopped off Percy's arm and settled back himself on Percy's desk, his favorite place to sleep, for whatever reason.

"Goodnight, Hermes." Percy says as he laid down to sleep, "I love you."

**Oh my gosh, am I the only one wanting to give Percy a hug? He just seems so lost sometimes. **

**Anyways, I'll try to get the next chapter up sooner then in a month, that's just too long of a wait. The next chapter will probably be the last, unless anyone has any requests, which I would be more than happy to do.**

**Please review, reviews show your love, and goodness knows that Percy needs some more lovin'.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello again peoples. I'm back, and I apologize for leaving this for so long. My obsession with Harry Potter has a tendency to turn off and on, and it turned off before I could write this chapter. Luckily though, Harry Potter is an easy series to get back into, even if just temporarily. I'm just enough into the series to think of updating this story, so I am.**

**Alright, enough excuses. On with the chapter.**

It was a beautiful summer day, though Arthur Weasley was having a hard time enjoying it. Despite the warmth of the summer air, Arthur still felt cold inside. Six weeks. His family had been broken for six weeks, and Arthur didn't know how he could possibly fix it. The wizarding war had had an impact on most everyone, and a lot of people were still trying to get over their losses, whether of property, possessions, or family.

Fred was gone, and there was nothing anybody could do to change that. All of the Weasley's were hurting because of this, especially Molly and George. Arthur was doing what he could to make things better again, but he wasn't sure how. Bill and Charlie, who had both taken time off their jobs to come home for a bit, were doing more for their family than Arthur was. It wasn't right. Arthur was the father of the family, it was his job to make sure things don't fall apart like this.

Arthur got pulled out of his thoughts very suddenly and painfully when he felt a sharp bite on his hand. The culprit was a handsome screech owl, who stared at Arthur quite harshly. The man just stared right back at the owl in surprise. He recognized the bird immediately as Percy's owl.

"Hermes, what are you doing here?" Arthur asked. He immediately felt a little foolish, asking the bird a question like that, as if the animal could answer him. Hermes glared at him and snapped at his hand again, causing it to bleed this time.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Arthur exclaimed as he brought his hand away from the owl before it could get hurt anymore. Arthur looked into Hermes eyes and was suddenly and unexpectedly reminded of his and Percy's fight. Arthur flinched at the reminder of the harsh words that were said on both sides.

"Percy...he was hurt by the words I had said, wasn't he?" Arthur said to Hermes. The bird didn't answer, but he didn't need to. Arthur should have realized before that of course Percy would be hurt. He wouldn't like it if anyone accused him of being foolish, blinded by ambition, and being used. Percy would've been bothered by anyone saying those things about him. But his father? That was so much worse.

"I need to make things right with Percy, don't I?" Arthur asked the owl that was watching him. Hermes' eyes softened, confirming Arthur's thought. Sure, Percy had apologized for the way that he had acted, but Arthur hadn't. Percy hadn't come back to the Burrow like the others after the war had ended, and Arthur intended to fix that. It was time for his son to come home.

"Is Percy just at his flat in London?" Arthur asked. Hermes reply was to simply fly off, leaving a somewhat befuddled man behind him.

"I'll take that as a yes." Arthur said to himself. He went inside to inform Molly of what he was doing, then, without further delay, went back outside and apparated to London. He then made his way to the building that he knew his son lived in. Arthur made it to the door to Percy's flat without hesitation or doubt crossing his mind, but stopped before knocking. He wanted and needed to speak with Percy, but what if Percy didn't want to speak with him? Before he could make up his mind though the door was opened from the inside by Percy himself, who seemed bewildered to see his father standing outside his flat.

"Father, what are you doing here?" Percy asked.

"Percy, I was just...I mean, Hermes came and...I just want to speak with you." Arthur was all he managed to say. He didn't understand why he felt so uncomfortable and nervous. This was Percy, his son. He shouldn't feel nervous to talk to one of his children.

Percy looked back inside and glared in annoyance at Hermes, who looked very pleased with himself.

"You brought him here, didn't you, Hermes?" Percy asked the owl. "I told you, I don't need any of your help." The bird looked at him in disbelief and Percy groaned.

"Fine." He snapped at his pet. Percy opened the door wider and invited his father to come inside, which he did.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Percy asked. He tried to sound normal and casual, but Arthur could tell that Percy was just as nervous and uncomfortable as he was. This needed to change.

"I wanted to ask you to come home, Percy." Arthur said without hesitation.

"What? But I-I can't." Percy stammered. This wasn't at all what he was expecting

"Why not, Percy?" Arthur asked, "I know that things have been rough between us these past few years, but can't we just put the past behind us?"

Percy sat down and ran his fingers through his hair. "Why?" He asked, "Why do you want me home? After everything I've done, everything I said."

"Percy, yes, you've made mistakes, but haven't we all?" Arthur said as he sat on the couch by his son. "You need to forgive yourself of these mistakes, as I've forgiven you for them."

Percy looked at his father in shock, "Why would you forgive me?" He asked.

"Because you're my son. It's as simple as that." Arthur said. He put his arm over Percy's shoulder and drew his son closer to him. Arthur was pleasantly surprised that Percy didn't shy away from the embrace. "We're family. Forgiving is what family does. And I hope that you can forgive me."

"What do you need to be forgiven for?" Percy asked his father, confusion in his voice.

"You weren't the only one who said hurtful things, Percy." Arthur said. He felt Percy flinch slightly.

"But you were right." Percy said sadly.

"That may be true, but I could have handled it so much better." Arthur said. "I said things that I regret, and I'm sorry for the pain I've caused you."

Percy was silent as he took in his father's words. Deep down he'd known this whole time that his father hadn't meant some of what he said, but still. Hearing his father forgive him and apologize made Percy feel like he had a burden lifted off his back he hadn't even realized he was carrying. Still, he hadn't lived at home for years, and even then his siblings didn't exactly make him feel welcome. Why would things be any different now?

"Of course I forgive you." Percy said after a minute, "But, I just don't think that I should come home right now." The young man pulled out of his father's embrace and walked over to Hermes, who had been watching the conversation.

"Are you worried about how your siblings will react?" Arthur asked. Percy froze. Of course his father knew what he was thinking, he always did.

"I just don't think I can face them now, especially not George." Percy said. No, he couldn't face them. His father may have forgiven him, but what if none of the others did? And even if they did, Percy didn't want to go back to the way he was before, being either laughed at or ignored by his siblings.

"They don't blame you, Percy. None of us do." Arthur said. "But if you don't feel comfortable coming home, I'm not going to force you. I'm never going to try to make you act the way I want you to again." Arthur began to head for the door. He'd come and told Percy what he wanted to tell him, if the boy didn't want to listen, that was just fine. Arthur was not going to hold it over him.

"Father, wait!" Percy exclaimed. Percy was nervous about what the rest of his family would think, but he didn't want to be alone anymore. These past few years had been the loneliest and hardest years of his life, and he didn't want to be that alone ever again. Maybe his father was right, and his siblings weren't mad at him, and even if they were, maybe Percy could handle it. Especially if he had his father supporting him again.

"What do you think, Hermes?" Percy asked his owl. Hermes hopped onto Percy's arm and looked at Arthur. Hermes was ready to go, and so was Percy.

"Father...Dad, I-I want to go with you." Percy said. "I want to go home."

**Know what, I'm just going to leave it at that. Sure, it's abrupt for an ending, but it's sweet. I'll probably end up writing another chapter later, though it'll have nothing to do Arthur, just Percy and Hermes, and Percy's girlfriend.**

**Anyways, Hermes is an interesting owl, for one thing, he doesn't make any noises. The reason is because I don't know whether screech owls go 'hoot', 'squee', or 'screech'. Thus, he makes no noises. Also, Hermes has a bit of magic in him. If one looks into his eyes, he can make them remember something they've heard before. That's part of how he communicates with people.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and once again I apologize for the long wait. Please though, drop a review, tell me what you like or didn't like about the chapter or story or whatever.**


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